As the real estate industry has raised its standards and professionalism agencies have introduced more transparent ways of dealing with buyers when it comes to the handling of offers. Which is great news for you if you are buying an investment property or new home in Melbourne. 

In this article we will share with you the most common practice of handling offers in Melbourne. This is important information for DIY property buyers, and something a Buyers Advocate will navigate for you if you have chosen to benefit from independent buyer representation (ie Using a Buyers Agent to assist you with your search or negotiation)

The biggest challenge sales agents face when it comes to fielding offers is having multiple sales people in one office dealing with different buyers.

Gone are the days sneaky inter-office politics where one agent out monouvers their colleague in order to ensure their offer gets across the line so they get paid the commission. Although this still does happen to a large degree, agencies have policies in place to ensure its fair for all buyers. 

Here are the things you need to know as a buyer if you are going it alone and do not have the representation of an independent buyers advocate/buyers agent.

Here are the things you need to know as a buyer if you are going it alone and do not have the representation of an independent buyers advocate/buyers agent.

#1 Every agency will deal with offers differently.

It is important you understand how the agency representing the house you are purchasing works.  

Understanding how they will handle your offer is crucial to ensuring you don’t get blindsided by another offer or receive that dreaded call “we have accepted another offer” when you have low balled the agent expecting to move up in price after some to and throw. 

#2 A strong market will often have multiple buyers involved

In a strong market (like the Melbourne property market) there are often multiple buyers at play. Don’t be surprised if you get a call stating their are other offers on the table. Whist this is a common bluff used by sales agents, in a strong market more often than not, the information is a fact and not a “trick” to get you to pay more.

To help you understand the likely unfolding of events when you place an offer on a property;

here is what we find to be the most common practice in Melbourne:

The First Party makes an offer to the agent 

The Agent endeavours to contact all other interested Parties to advise that an offer has been made which will be accepted by the vendor unless a better offer is made by another interested Party

Each interested Party has an opportunity make his highest & best offer in writing by a certain time 

The offer may be confidential or disclosed to other parties (depending on the agency)

Other parties may have the opportunity to increase their offer. They may have one opportunity or many. It depends on the agency. 

The vendor will accept their preferred offer  

With 15 years dedicated to Buyer Advocacy we are genuine masters at our craft and would be delighted to assist you with your purchase. If you would like to get in contact with us to book a complimentary phone consultation.